Their kids refused to go on a day trip, so these parents took the modem instead

Cassie Langan says her kids were not amused by her actions, until their funny story went viral.

Get the latest from TODAY

Sign up for our newsletter
/ Source: TODAY
By Terri Peters

When Cassie Langan and her husband, Chris, decided to take their family on a day trip, they were met with resistance from their three kids, who range in age from 17 to 10.

So Langan changed her plans, deciding to take the family's modem along for a day of relaxation and pampering instead.

In a now viral post, Langan explains, "Chris and I decided that instead of taking three unappreciative kids out, we'd let the ones who didn't want to go stay home and took our most over worked family member for a well deserved day out ... our modem."

Langan, who lives in southern Australia, says due to work and school schedules, it's rare that all of her family members have a day to spend together. When she and her husband heard about a model train show in a nearby town, they thought their kids would be up for some family bonding. Unfortunately, the kids weren't interested.

"Our 17-year-old daughter refused to go and our 10-year-old son had a tantrum listing all the reasons why it was unfair that we were making him go," Langan told TODAY Parents. "Our 13-year-old son was the only one who reluctantly agreed to go. In the end, we told the kids if they weren't going to go, we'd take the modem instead and they said OK."

Langan says she often worries that her kids spend too much time on the internet. While her son promised he wouldn't watch YouTube while she was gone, she suspected he would. And although her daughter pays for her own cell phone plan, she knew with the unlimited data provided by Wi-Fi, she'd spend her day using apps like TikTok and Instagram.

So Langan packed up their modem and took it along to the model train show, the beach, the restaurant where they ate dinner and more destinations, and took lots of photos along the way.

"Our 13 year old was fine that we confiscated the modem, but mortified that I took photos of it in public and thought we were 'idiots,'" said Langan. "When we got home our 17 year old was so bored she actually had cleaned her room and spent time with her younger brother. When I showed my 10 year old the photos he said that it wasn't fair — that we hate him and love the modem more — and stormed off to his room."

Now that their parents' funny post has gone viral, however, Langan says her kids see the humor in her actions.

"They finally see the funny side," said Langan. "And I am absolutely blown away by how many times it has been shared and the amount of people who said it made a difference to their day."